Esato

Forum > General discussions > Other manufacturers > Nokia N900, a blackberry or. a Smartphone?

Author Nokia N900, a blackberry or. a Smartphone?
tk338
Xperia X10 Mini Black
Joined: Oct 26, 2006
Posts: 338
PM, WWW
Posted: 2010-02-07 22:12
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
So I recently posted in the blackberry thread about what BB to get between the 8520 and the 9700, and I'm still struggling with exactly hat phone to get. The whole decision has recently been thrown into complete disorder, welll even more so upon the discovery of the Nokia N900, plus the fact I can get it for cheaper than the 9700, making it a very attractive proposition!

I'm looking for a device to connect me, good internet browser, and a hard keyboard for inputting text, which the n900 fits the bill for. I also wanted something with a level of customization, and while the level that blackberries offer is fine it seems the N900 adds a whole new meaning too the word .

I've narrowed down my choice too 'smart phones' something on a contract, and looking at paying as little as possible for those of you in the UK, I've got to be on O2 (family and friends ALL on 02 Unlimited), I need unlimited texts and unlimited internet.

For the 3 phones I'm looking at the;

- BB 8520- 400 minutes? (not too bothered about them), unlimited texts, and unlimited internet (O2s blackberry bolt on) for £25 a month, the phones free over 24 months
- BB 9700- 600 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet (again O2s blackberry bolt on) for £40 a month, and an initial £50 for the phone
- Nokia N900- 600 minutes, unlimited texts, truly unlimited internet £37.50 a month and the phones free, for 24 months...

So confusion reigns! If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated, what worries me about the nokia is its size, the touch screen (resistive?) and the battery life, but then I guess the only way too test that out would be to go try one out, and speak to people who use one...

So yeah thanks in advance and any replies to this I'll get back to you asap!
nicv27
HTC One
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: kent
PM
Posted: 2010-02-07 22:20
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
I use a Bold 9700 and for inputting text ( Twitter Facebook email sms) it`s excellent the only reason i got it was because i really liked my previous Bold 9000 and this was an obvious upgrade. I dont like the browser on it, but this is probably because before my Bold 9700 and 9000 i used a 3g iphone and the browser on that was excellent. and the only reason i am selling my Bold 9700 now is because i think it`s too small and makes typing uncomfortable ( but thats just my opinon i know lots of people with the 9700 who love it)
Samsung Galaxy S3 White iPad 2 32gb 3G +16/-0 Twitter.nicv27
tk338
Xperia X10 Mini Black
Joined: Oct 26, 2006
Posts: 338
PM, WWW
Posted: 2010-02-09 01:06
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
Aah thanks very much nicv27 (:In terms of what im used too a bold would be a step up in all aspects i guess, as would any smart phone which I guess i havent taken into consideration... One thing I have been impressed with looking at reviews is the nokias camera quality, any particular things you've noticed about the bolds camera?
bart
Ericsson T68
Joined: Feb 03, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Flanders
PM, WWW
Posted: 2010-02-09 01:19
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
N900 overall a better device.
With Ericsson and Nokia gone: we must keep their spirits alive and buy JOLLA or YOTA
Supa_Fly
X1 Silver
Joined: Apr 16, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Toronto, Ontario
PM, WWW
Posted: 2010-02-09 04:07
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post

On 2010-02-07 22:12:57, tk338 wrote:
So I recently posted in the blackberry thread about what BB to get between the 8520 and the 9700, and I'm still struggling with exactly hat phone to get. The whole decision has recently been thrown into complete disorder, welll even more so upon the discovery of the Nokia N900, plus the fact I can get it for cheaper than the 9700, making it a very attractive proposition!

I'm looking for a device to connect me, good internet browser, and a hard keyboard for inputting text, which the n900 fits the bill for. I also wanted something with a level of customization, and while the level that blackberries offer is fine it seems the N900 adds a whole new meaning too the word .

I've narrowed down my choice too 'smart phones' something on a contract, and looking at paying as little as possible for those of you in the UK, I've got to be on O2 (family and friends ALL on 02 Unlimited), I need unlimited texts and unlimited internet.

For the 3 phones I'm looking at the;

- BB 8520- 400 minutes? (not too bothered about them), unlimited texts, and unlimited internet (O2s blackberry bolt on) for £25 a month, the phones free over 24 months
- BB 9700- 600 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet (again O2s blackberry bolt on) for £40 a month, and an initial £50 for the phone
- Nokia N900- 600 minutes, unlimited texts, truly unlimited internet £37.50 a month and the phones free, for 24 months...

So confusion reigns! If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated, what worries me about the nokia is its size, the touch screen (resistive?) and the battery life, but then I guess the only way too test that out would be to go try one out, and speak to people who use one...

So yeah thanks in advance and any replies to this I'll get back to you asap!


first you where not clear about why the price of the Bold 9700 vs the 8520 was the same cost but monthly more for the 9700; which doesn`t work.

Now for the 8520 - ignore it! It`ll drop in price significantly in less than 2mths when the 9100 3G Pearl debuts, and even more so when the 8910 drops with a trackball offering BOTH GPS & WLAN. 8520 has no LED flash for its camera. Done like dinner its a budget smarpthone.

9700 if you bang out incredible amounts of SMS/MMS/Emails! Its the KING and MORE so beyond just having a qwerty keyboard. IT has something that NO OTHER SMARTPHONE has ... it's called AutoText. If you don't know what it really is, read my blog entry and search for "AutoText" read the article pertaining to it. Don't discuss further unless you know what it is. Every BB has it; and its significantly powerful.

N900. This is a wild card. Some like it, others unsure, more dislike it. The wildcard here is that its Maemo 5 ... the ONLY device using that OS, which in less than 6mths will be antiquated for Maemo 6 which will do 2 things:
Demand more chipset power (ARM Cortex A9 plus OpenGL 3.0 ES graphics)
or
Maemo 6 gets released on more than 1 device by Nokia and Nokia chooses not to support the N900 in upgrades to v6; while doing something v6 that doesn't work well with N900 and you got a very oversized fashionable brick.

My issue with Maemo 6 is that its Nokia only. What's worse is Nokia has a history of shunning out their partners whom are also competitors so that their products have the best: S60 history with Samsung/LG/Kyocera/etc (take note that ALL of those mentioned dropped support for Symbian-Foundation; Samsung did mention then recant; almost as a wait & see). The issue is Nokia has no competition for N900 and you'll notice lately their marketing efforts to glorify the N900 has recently come to a halt; hmmm.

You must ask yourself the following (regardless of the phones your considering):
1. What is the primary focus of the smartphone you want?! Phone should ALWAYS come first; but beyond that.
2. How important is media to you beyond casual experience?!
- beyond music/playlist playback/modifying/synching with PC/Mac; but Video recording quality (fps/video quality/sound quality/etc), Picture quality, video sharing, video playback (codecs/source file extensions etc)??
3. Is it important that you can communicate beyond simple text to others.
4. Community!!
- this is something new but VERY important. How you communicate with others today is VERY different than just calls/sms/mms/emails. There is a social communication that ties your media in with it to the cloud ... you NEED to also consider how easily sharing your communication medium will be for those that can consume it. Are many of your peers still using SMS/MMS on Nokia S40/SE A200+ feature phones or are they on BB's, or other smartphones?? I mention BB's individually because of what CAN be done in BBM that regular IM cannot do - its its completely useless IF nobody you know uses a BB.

Lastly 1 thing you'll notice is that those of us in the BB thread don't post too often; its not because we don't enjoy BB's but its because we really enjoying them, learning more everyday and almost emersing ourselves into them.

Consider the Storm 2 9520 if you want a BB with a touchscreen OR get the 9700 & iPod Touch 3rd Gen and you'll be pleny satisfied.
|AppleTV2|iPhone 12Mini 256GB|iPad Pro 256GB| Previously ... K750|Z500|Z520|K700|K790i|K850i, :Ericsson: T18z|T28World|T36m x3|T68m (Ericsson, not the rebranded T68i).
nicv27
HTC One
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: kent
PM
Posted: 2010-02-09 21:24
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
I can only compare the camera on the bold 9700 to either my iphone 3g and my bold 9000. The bold 9700 is much better as you would expect from 3.2mp compared to 2.0mp on the other devices.
Samsung Galaxy S3 White iPad 2 32gb 3G +16/-0 Twitter.nicv27
voda_jon
S500 Green
Joined: Nov 28, 2004
Posts: > 500
PM
Posted: 2010-02-10 09:58
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
if ur a true geek go for the N900... i've had one for 3 weeks now and have Debian (Linux) installed for full apps like open office and gimp etc... and i'm in the process of installing Windows 95 tonight...

The phone whilst i have been using it has been reliable (only reset once but that was my fault) and being able to change ANYTHING i want on the phone throughout the system and trying and testing apps that i have made is great too!

But then the BB is a good phone and i would recommend them if you dont fancy tinkering lol.

J.
tk338
Xperia X10 Mini Black
Joined: Oct 26, 2006
Posts: 338
PM, WWW
Posted: 2010-02-10 15:44
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post

On 2010-02-09 04:07:21, Prom1 wrote:
9700 if you bang out incredible amounts of SMS/MMS/Emails! Its the KING and MORE so beyond just having a qwerty keyboard. IT has something that NO OTHER SMARTPHONE has ... it's called AutoText. If you don't know what it really is, read my blog entry and search for "AutoText" read the article pertaining to it. Don't discuss further unless you know what it is. Every BB has it; and its significantly powerful.

You must ask yourself the following (regardless of the phones your considering):
1. What is the primary focus of the smartphone you want?! Phone should ALWAYS come first; but beyond that.
2. How important is media to you beyond casual experience?!
- beyond music/playlist playback/modifying/synching with PC/Mac; but Video recording quality (fps/video quality/sound quality/etc), Picture quality, video sharing, video playback (codecs/source file extensions etc)??
3. Is it important that you can communicate beyond simple text to others.
4. Community!!
- this is something new but VERY important. How you communicate with others today is VERY different than just calls/sms/mms/emails. There is a social communication that ties your media in with it to the cloud ... you NEED to also consider how easily sharing your communication medium will be for those that can consume it. Are many of your peers still using SMS/MMS on Nokia S40/SE A200+ feature phones or are they on BB's, or other smartphones?? I mention BB's individually because of what CAN be done in BBM that regular IM cannot do - its its completely useless IF nobody you know uses a BB.

Lastly 1 thing you'll notice is that those of us in the BB thread don't post too often; its not because we don't enjoy BB's but its because we really enjoying them, learning more everyday and almost emersing ourselves into them.


Thanks everyone for your input, a particular thanks too Prom1 who has replied on this matter before and never fails to go into a lot of thought and detail with the responses (: The point above were ones I found particularly helpful!

I got the 9700!

I went into a store near me yesterday, part of a chain of stores in the UK, spoke to the guy there and asked if I could try out an N900 I really just wanted to play around see what the device was all about, and I knew the moment it came out of the bow it wasn't for me . I did find typing on it fantastic, almost as good as the 9700, but the OS, I don't think was anywhere near the latest version, very very buggy but in the end what did put me off was the sheer size of the device, and the fact I am often out and about, and while I try never ever to take a phone out in the rain it does inevitably happen and something like that we'll you just couldn't; it'd need taking care of constantly, and then with summer coming up, I hop onto my bike it really just wasn't for me .

BUT I never actually went into buy a phone I thought I'll go in, try it out... After having been in a few shops and sat down, pressured by the assistant to buy... before walking out because they didn't have the n900 to buy, I thought same drill in this shop, he got the n900 out I played with it, asked a few questions etc... But then I mentioned I had no credit history and did he know if someone like me would be sold an expensive contract. He said he'd run a check for me and I thought ok, only he sold me the 9700 in the process and I don't know quite where it happened, but 5 minutes into the process when I realised what was happening, I looked round saw the amount of people I was holding up and asked about a returns policy (which I was going too do due too the tariff I was sold), and just went through with it, took the 9700, which coincidentally I hadn't eve mentioned I'd wanted to buy, he hadn't even got out for me, I was holding the n900 all through this.

Anyways I went home got on the phone too o2 and after some time, after speaking to several people, managed to get through to a decent guy, and got them to change my contract, to the bold contract I was always after, only I got £30 off the initial cost of the phone... So I'm happy!

As for the bold, the moment I got it home and out I knew it was exactly what I was after I feel right at home with the keyboard, its sync'd perfectly with my mac, and I'm loving the push email already ...

So once again thanks for everyones help absolutely in love with my nice shiny 9700 hope too see you around!!!

-tk338

Access the forum with a mobile phone via esato.mobi